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Games Trainers Play: The Florida Horse Saga

My friend is selling a horse in Western KY. She's been talking to a trainer, who is a friend of her trainer back home about buying her horse- who is fairly reasonably priced. She has sent videos, pictures and been outright in her description of the horse.

The potential buyer has contacted my friend asked her to haul the horse to Florida for them to look at him. She's a poor college student and is seriously considering hauling the horse- but is this normal? How can she approach this with the trainer? What are her options? What would you do? It's going to be a $500+ dollar trip to get the horse down there- does the potential buyer have any monetary responsibilities to see the horse?

One of the options we're thinking of is telling the buyer that if she buys, she doesn't have to pay any gas money, if she doesn't buy she'll owe my friend. Is this fair?

What do we do? We've never sold a horse like this before and we're kinda baffled.

It does seem a little odd. Why can't the buyer hop in a car and drive up to you? She could even take the bus if she really wanted to see the horse and didn't have a lot of money. Personally, I wouldn't go through all the hassle of trailering all the way to Florida on the chance that she might buy him.

The only time this is ever done is with trainer as a disclosed agent setting up with another trainer/agent representing the buyer to assure the horse is kept in acceptable conditions and both parties are known to one another.
The wannabe buyer PAYS for the transportation. BOTH WAYS if it comes back.
The wannbe buyer LEASES the horse and PAYS a lease fee.
The wannbe buyer PAYS for insurance.
All involved parties SIGN a contract. In ADVANCE.

No, this is not normal and is a recipie for heartache for the seller. If the buyer is serious, they will come look at the horse. If she actually hauls the horse all the way to FL - a crappy long drive with a PITA border crossing at the FL line, and I'm a few hours closer than she is - the potential buyer has put her in a very poor bargaining spot. After driving all that way, she is not going to want to load the horse up and go home, so I'm sure the buyer would try to take advantage of that.

This is about the craziest thing I've ever heard of. No, no, and no. The buyer travels to see the horse. Period. SleepyFox and ChocoMare are right. I would never haul a horse anywhere for a try out. For sure not a distance like that!

The only time this is ever done is with trainer as a disclosed agent setting up with another trainer/agent representing the buyer to assure the horse is kept in acceptable conditions and both parties are known to one another.
The wannabe buyer PAYS for the transportation. BOTH WAYS if it comes back.
The wannbe buyer LEASES the horse and PAYS a lease fee.
The wannbe buyer PAYS for insurance.
All involved parties SIGN a contract. In ADVANCE.

This one's easy, just say NO.

Exactly. It would be cheaper for her to fly to KY (most likely) than to pay all that. If she's smart she will line up several horses to look at while she is there. I wouldn't do it.

"Perhaps the final test of anybody's love of dogs is their willingness to permit them to make a camping ground of the bed" -Henry T. Merwin

Think about it this way:
You want to buy a home.
The home is out of state.
Do you ask the agent or home owner to ship the home to you?

Sorry...but when it comes to moving either a person or a horse...it's a helluva lot easier and more sane to move the people to where the horse is rather than the other way around.
Besides...you're the one with the sales item. The buyer goes to where something is for sale...the seller doesn't bring the sale item to the buyer unless the seller is the ice cream truck driver.

You jump in the saddle,
Hold onto the bridle!
Jump in the line!
...Belefonte

Waste of time and money.

Originally Posted by eponacowgirl

She's a poor college student and is seriously considering hauling the horse-

So she wants to spend money on a gamble that the shopper will buy the horse? It is cheaper for the buyer to come to her than to pay hauling fees, so unless she gets everything paid for up front, I wouldn't expect to recover the costs. And because I think this particular buyer is lazy and more than like a tire kicker, I doubt you'd find them willing to reimburse for expenses. The request is, IMO, ridiculous. Don't haul the horse.

I wouldn't sell a horse to a poor college kid who may or may not be able to afford to properly care for the horse. If it's my horse it's my business and I'd say no to someone of questionable financial ability. You don't have to be rich but you do have yo be able to provide basic care. I'd wonder about that if she can't afford to get in the car and drive up to see the horse.

I wouldn't sell a horse to a poor college kid who may or may not be able to afford to properly care for the horse. If it's my horse it's my business and I'd say no to someone of questionable financial ability. You don't have to be rich but you do have yo be able to provide basic care. I'd wonder about that if she can't afford to get in the car and drive up to see the horse.

I think it's the seller who's the poor college kid, not the buyer. Such a trip would be a financial burden for her. A serious buyer will come see the horse. A REALLY serious buyer would pay the poor college kid owner UP FRONT for the purchase price and the hauling expenses.